Built to last

3 Rory Gallagher albums, the vinyl premier of Natalie Merchant's Motherland, sixties Rock 'n Soul by the lovely Miss Sandie Shaw, Bob James' first solo masterpiece... These records are built to last a lifetime and beyond!

Motherland (2001) was produced by T. Bone Burnett, positioning Merchants songs in one coherent, excellent album.

Her voice has deepened and her lyrics are socially conscious and intelligent, as always. Musically, each song stands on its own and fits seamlessly into the collection of tracks that make up Motherland.

Sandie Shaw would be forever famous for winning the Euro Vision Song Contest in 1967 with "Puppet On A String".

She ventured into a more seriously groovy direction on Reviewing The Situation (1969), covering songs by contemporary chartbusting artists like The Beatles, Rufus Thomas, Lovin' Spoonful, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Bob Dylan.

This album captures Gallagher on a grinding world tour in 1979 and 1980, pumping out blues-rockers with requisite aggression in cities all around the world as San Francisco, Melbourne, Paris and Los Angeles.